1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an engine controller applied to an internal combustion engine including a direct fuel injection valve.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, internal combustion engines including a fuel injection valve that directly injects fuel into a cylinder (hereinafter, also referred to as “direct injection valve”), have been widely available. Such an engine is also referred to as “cylinder fuel injection internal combustion engine”, “direct injection engine”, or “cylinder injection engine”. In the direct injection engine, knocking might be caused by a large engine load. When the knocking occurs, a conventional engine controller retards an ignition timing and an opening timing of an intake valve to control the occurrence of the knocking (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No 2011-111921 (JP 2011-111921 A)).